Quote by Nawal El Saadawi: “No one gives you freedom. You take it.”

Freedom is never handed over willingly by those who hold power. The only way to be free is to claim it yourself — through action, refusal, or resistance. Waiting for permission means waiting forever.

El Saadawi wrote The Hidden Face of Eve in 1980, a sweeping account of female oppression across Arab history. Egypt had just signed a peace treaty with Israel under Anwar Sadat, and conservative religious forces were gaining influence across the region, tightening pressure on women's rights advocates.

Egyptian feminist writer, physician, and activist whose work challenged patriarchy, religious fundamentalism, and political repression across the Arab world. Her 1975 book Women and Sex led to her dismissal from the Egyptian Ministry of Health, and she was imprisoned in 1981. She published over fifty books in her lifetime.